Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha is being advised to seek a Royal pardon, and request an opportunity to retake the oath in an audience with His Majesty the King, by Mr. Jate Dhonavanik, a former advisor to the Constitution Drafting Committee. Mr. Jate proposed two options to correct the error.
The second option, he said, is for the Prime Minister to wait for a ruling by the Constitutional Court or the Supreme Court’s Criminal Division for Holders of Political Offices, adding that resigning as Prime Minister or house dissolution, as is being demanded by members of the Opposition, is not the solution because the Constitution does not define the consequences of failing to recite the oath in full, as mandated by Section 161 of the Constitution.
He then cited Section 5 of the Constitution to explain that, if there is no defined consequence for an action (or inaction), the matter must be resolved by reference to custom and practice under the Constitutional Monarchy.
The former CDC advisor insisted that the failure to complete the oath by the prime minister has not invalidated the entire election process.
